


can i tell you honestly?

by boyfrendery



Series: love in the milky way café [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-08-19 17:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20213536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boyfrendery/pseuds/boyfrendery
Summary: donghyuck can’t help but notice the set of eyes peering at him across the café





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> title inspired by [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnxmALViB_Q) and premise inspired by [this picture](https://mimgnews.pstatic.net/image/433/2019/08/09/0000061391_001_20190809084037510.jpg).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an introductory chapter to the milky way ♡

The Milky Way Café is tucked in an upper unit along the bustling streets of Koreatown - an unassuming, quiet café with a cozy atmosphere, bright greenery along its walls and a grand window which grants an optimal view of the sidewalk it rests upon. Donghyuck has strolled along these streets countless times: stationary shopping before the start of the school semester, walking to the subway with dirtied kneecaps after playing soccer in the park, going to _noraebang_ with his three best friends only to walk home with soju stained shirts. Despite the memories he has of walking up and down Bloor, he can’t say that he’s tried anything from Milky Way before, nor has he even stepped foot into the establishment. The thought never crossed his mind.

This doesn’t stop Donghyuck from chatting away with the café owner when he hands over his résumé, speckling praises for their small-batch coffee and organic teas as he boasts about his _excellent_ people skills and _strong_ _willingness to learn_. “I’d love to be part of your team,” ends his elevator pitch, a soft PR smile spread across his face to win his way into securing an interview.

Donghyuck meets with Kun the next day, charms him with honest-but-good answers to the standard set of interview questions, and ends it with a firm handshake. He walks to the subway station feeling restless and exits relieved to see a voicemail from Kun. Barista training begins on Monday.

One of the best parts of his job, Donghyuck soon learns, isn’t when he gets to make latte art. To be honest, he’s quite bad at it.

Kun peers over Donghyuck during his third training shift and watches the new employee heat a cup of soy milk. “Why is this so hard to froth?”

“Because it’s not real milk,” Kun chuckles. “But not everyone can drink cow’s milk or _wants_ to drink cow’s milk, so we have options for them.” Kun puts his hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder. “How many milks do we have?” 

Donghyuck bites his lip out of frustration, the liquid being _so stupid why does this have to be so difficult_, but answers Kun promptly. “We offer three different non-dairy beverages: almond, soy, and oat. 50 cents extra for almond and soy, 60 cents for oat because we make it ourselves.” The soy bubbles violently in the metal container and lets out a loud _pop_ as milk flies onto Donghyuck’s apron.

Kun grins at the scene and pats Donghyuck. “It just takes practice. You’ll be a pro by next week.”

Donghyuck’s left alone with a milk-splattered apron and a cup of hot-but-not-foamy soy as Kun heads to the back. The café is at a standstill: a few customers have set up camp for the day, fingers typing away to produce a consistent, low buzz across the small shop, while others meet for midday coffee. When business slows down and Donghyuck finds himself standing around, waiting for the metal bell chime of someone to walking through the door, he practices making one of the many drinks on their menu. He whisks matcha until foamy and bright, steeps tea until it reaches optimal time and temperature, works on perfecting the Milky Way Special (which, Donghyuck discovers, is simply a hot chocolate made with three different types of chocolate, swirls of white to form a cupful of galaxy). 

This is his fourth attempt at making a decent soy latte today, though, and he’s already got too much caffeine coursing through his veins. He pours the warmed milk into a ceramic mug and sips on it slowly, leaning over the counter.

Past the window beams the bright light of a Thursday afternoon, the 2 o’clock sunshine making its appearance through the north-facing building. Cars and bikes move at a constant pace while pedestrians file past each other to and fro on the sidewalks below, children pushed along in strollers or the elderly making their way home from an afternoon walk.

Donghyuck decides that this is the best part of his job: the low hum of customers, their conversations buzzing back and forth. The soft, airy indie music floating through the air, its mid-tempo rhythm keeping a soothing ambiance. Looking out the window, knowing the busyness of the world is kept out, how stepping into Milky Way is like being transported into a space beyond this world, beyond this earth’s worries, its fears, its uncertainties for future. How all the matters in here is the drink on your table and the person in front of you.

The warm mug in his hand, a cup of comfort for him to nurse until dry, something for Donghyuck to hold onto in this moment. He could get used to this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a weekend storm brings in a new customer to the milky way

Half of summer passes on like this: Donghyuck, dressed cleanly in a black apron and warm smile, working afternoons at Milky Way with wistful eyes looking out its grand window. His shift at the café starts at 3pm, ends at 9, bed at 1am if he’s lucky, but 3am on most days; wash, rinse, and repeat for his five day work week. Occasionally Jaemin stops by and forces Donghyuck to make a disgustingly bitter drink (“Really, Jaemin? Four shots of espresso?” was his reaction the first time, to which Jaemin answered with a confident nod), or Jeno takes residence on the set of seats directly across the bar, sipping an iced coffee so slowly that condensation pools on the table. Otherwise Donghyuck grows accustomed to this routine, learns the ins and outs of the small shop and the people that frequent it.

It’s on a rain filled weekend, thunder rumbling low outside the window, rain knocking endlessly on its glass, that a new routine storms its way into the café. He’s in the middle of pouring a latte for Chenle when Donghyuck hears the bell chime of their door entrance, an alert for the staff to know when a customer has walked in. “I’ll be with you in a second,” he states, still facing the machine and carefully pouring a simple design for Chenle, foamy white marking the rich espresso. He hands the ceramic mug to Chenle with a smile, who takes it to a table with unsteady hands, and Donghyuck wonders why he insists on getting a for-here cup every time. 

The boy standing at the counter has droplets falling from his sleeves, his windbreaker covered in rain and umbrella forming a puddle at his feet._I’ll have to mop that later_, Donghyuck thinks, resenting the weather for both driving customers away and bringing a mess into the shop. He buries the thought for the moment and focuses on the task at hand. 

“Welcome to the Milky Way! How can I help you?” The greeting rolls off Donghyuck’s tongue easily, a stream of sounds that barely have meaning anymore with the frequency he’s said them. 

The boy looks down to unzip his jacket and takes off his hood, revealing jet black hair. He takes off his glasses and cleans them against the hem of his shirt, squinting slightly before putting the dried glasses back on his face. There’s a sparkle in his eyes and Donghyuck can’t tell if it’s from the rain or if he’s seeing things.

“Can I, uhh,” the boy looks up at the menu behind Donghyuck, eyes darting up and down to read the sign. He glances over to the glass display of pastries and gives a small smile. “Can I get a brownie?” 

“Sure!” Donghyuck’s hand reaches for the metal tongs underneath the counter and steps toward the glass display. “Would you like it for here or to go?”

The boy looks over his shoulder toward the glass windows, rain still pattering. “For here’s good.” 

Donghyuck maneuvers the tongs through the display, reaching for a brownie and placing it on a plate. “That’ll be $3.25. Would you like the brownie heated up?” 

“Yeah, that’d be great,” the boy replies after rummaging through his pocket. He places a couple of toonies in Donghyuck’s hand, the cold metal and wet fingertips of his hand brushing against Donghyuck’s palms. His eyes meet Donghyuck’s at the touch, still sparkling behind the frames. They stay fixed on him until Donghyuck nods, to which he returns the nod awkwardly as he accepts the coins.

Donghyuck rings up the order, taps away without much thought at the screen and gives back his change. He can feel a slight warmth creep up his cheeks but suppresses the feeling, remembers that he’s working and _this cute boy just wants a brownie just do your job and give him the brownie_. “Can I get your name for the order? I’ll call it out when it’s done heating up.” 

He hands back the change to the boy. “Mark.”

Mark smiles at Donghyuck, a slight lift on the curve of his lips. Donghyuck returns the smile and turns to continue his work, placing the brownie in the microwave in the back room to warm up. 

When Donghyuck returns to the front, Jisung is waiting for him at the counter. “Hey Jisung! A hot chocolate today?” 

Jisung’s eyes crinkle as he nods and walks toward Chenle’s table, whose summer textbooks have occupied half the table.

Donghyuck looks around the shop and notices how empty the café really is. Quiet Saturdays are rare, as many customers still willingly trek out through rain or shine to get their daily fix of caffeine. This weekend’s storm is persistent — the whole city knew it would happen, the storm clouds crept slowly over the city from Thursday onward — and it looked like even the most coffee-addicted patrons would rather stay in bed than walk through the rain.

He quickly prepares the hot chocolate and brings it to Jisung, placing the paper cup onto the table. At least Jisung has the foresight to always order in a to-go cup, no matter how environmentally unfriendly that may be — he learned his lesson after breaking a mug the first time.

“Thanks, hyung!” Jisung moves the papers on the table to make more room for the drinks, then reaches into his pocket and hands two toonies to Donghyuck.

As he turns the corner behind the counter and rings up Jisung’s order, Donghyuck glances up and notices Mark. He’s sitting rather restlessly, eyes wandering around the café while his right leg bounces up and down under the table as he taps his foot.

_Shit_, Donghyuck thinks to himself. He completely forgot about Mark’s brownie. 

He hurriedly heads to the back and sets the microwave to run for 8 seconds, just in case the brownie went cold. The buzzing of the microwave feels like it ran forever when it finally _dings_. 

Instead of calling out his name, Donghyuck takes the opportunity to go above and beyond his call of duty as a barista, bringing Mark’s brownie out on a plate to his table. “Sorry about the wait, Mark,” he apologizes. He really can’t believe he forgot about it.

“No worries! Thanks,” Mark responds, taking the plate into his hands.

Donghyuck is behind the counter when he sees Mark bite into the brownie, a wide smile spreading across his face. He gives the boy a thumbs-up from across the café before heading to the back again and barely misses the slightest tint of blush appearing on Mark’s cheeks.

He rummages around the storage closet, pushing aside boxes of paper cups and straws before pulling out the mop. Why they insist on keeping the mop at the very back of the closet when they use it every day — Donghyuck doesn’t know.

Once the mop pail is half-full of water, he wheels it out and carefully wrings out the mop of excess water. No new customers have walked in so he takes the time to clean the entire front entrance, leaving it spotless and rain-free.

He looks up from the floor a total of two times while mopping — once to glance around and see how the customers are, twice at the sound of thunder, looking to see the rain still pounding against the window — and each time he feels a gaze on him. It’s not until he’s back behind the counter, mop tucked back into its place in the closet, that he finds Mark staring at him from behind a newspaper. He swiftly averts his eyes and looks back down at the news in front of him.

Mark leaves a half hour later, waving shyly to Donghyuck as he lifts his jacket hood to face the storm once more. The rain quiets an hour after that, sun rays peaking slowly through the dissipating dark clouds, and Donghyuck wonders if Mark realized he forgot his umbrella.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my apologies for the delayed update! let me know what you think so far ♡


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mark picks up his umbrella at the café; donghyuck goes for dinner with his friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter features some references to parts of toronto, the city where this fic takes place!
> 
> if you’d like a better idea of where these places are located, i’ve created a map and linked it at the end notes.

* * *

The Monday immediately after the storm, when sun rays flow endlessly through the wide window and tickles the chairs and tables with warmth, Mark returns to the café. Donghyuck is sitting on stool behind the counter, playing Anagrams on his phone with Renjun when Mark steps in, dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a plain t-shirt. Perspiration collects on his forehead, builds on his upper lip and the side of his nose, and Donghyuck wishes he could offer him a tissue and wipe it away.

“Mark, right?” He does his best to sound casual, cool — he remembers everyone’s name at the café. Even if they’ve only stepped in once. It’s not a big deal.

Mark seems surprised at Donghyuck’s memory, lifting his brows before smiling shyly. “Yeah, that’s right. I left my umbrella here last time. Do you have it?” 

Donghyuck nods and lifts his hand up, gesturing for Mark to hold on while be heads to the storage closet. He made sure to keep the umbrella on the shelf closest to the door, just so it wouldn’t get lost in the eternal mess inside. 

He hands over the umbrella to Mark. _This is it_, he thinks to himself. _He’s here for his umbrella and never coming back_.

As if Mark could read minds, he takes the umbrella from Donghyuck and glances up at the menu, scanning the choices. There aren’t very many to choose from, but Mark takes his time to look at all the options once more. “Can I, uh,” he stammers. “Just an iced coffee? For here, please.” 

“That’ll be $2.10.” 

Mark taps his card on the machine and moves to the pick-up area of the counter. Donghyuck prepares the drink fairly quickly, taking out the pitcher of prepared coffee from the fridge and pouring it into a glass cup. 

Mark shifts his feet nervously, looking around the café. “Mark, do you want room for milk?” Donghyuck asks. 

“Err... yeah, where’s the milk?”

Donghyuck points to the counter with lids and milk, close to the entrance of the café. “Straws are over there as well.”

He watches Mark juggle the glass, umbrella, and textbook in his hand. He grabs a straw and winces as he takes a sip of the black coffee. By the time he finishes adding milk and sugar to the drink, it’s coloured the lightest shade of brown.

The boy picks a seat facing the front counter, along the stretch of tables against the wall. Donghyuck continues to serve customers while Mark studies quietly, pulling out graph paper and plenty of mechanical pencils, eyes seemingly glued to the pages in front of him.

Yet whenever Donghyuck looks around the café, his eyes land on Mark again. The boy is almost always looking back.

“What’s up, shitheads!”

Donghyuck passes through the crowd of waiting customers inside their favourite restaurant in Koreatown. The three of them are already seated, menus closed and table empty. He was running a bit late for dinner (too caught up telling Kun about an awful customer) and insisted they order ahead of him. The restaurant gets busy on a Saturday night.

“Nice to see you too, Hyuck.” Jaemin moves his belongings aside to make space for Donghyuck at their booth. Donghyuck loves his friends but more importantly: he loves sitting at a table with a comfy booth.

“We already ordered our food. We’re all sharing dumplings.” Renjun passes over a menu to Donghyuck. He opens it and briefly glances over the menu once before calling a waiter.

“Can I order the seafood soondubu?” 

Once the waiter leaves, whisking away the menus with him, Jeno snickers. “I told you he’d get the usual.” 

Renjun frowns, visibly disappointed. “Ugh, fine. I’ll pay for your dumplings.’ 

Jaemin turns to Donghyuck and fills him in on the situation unravelling in front of him. “They made a bet on what you would order today. Renjun just said ‘anything but the usual.’”

“There are only,” Renjun looks toward the wall behind Jaemin and Donghyuck, where the menu is plastered in large font. “Nine things on their menu. And I _still _lost the bet.”

“That’s because you,” Jeno smile, a little too proudly. “Don’t know Hyuck like I do.” 

“I also don’t live with him,” Renjun retorts. “Thank god.”

Jaemin pours water for everyone and pipes in. “I’d rather live with Hyuck than in Markham.”

“I’m working on it!” Renjun nearly yells. “I checked out a place yesterday. It seems promising but there are three other people living there. Too many roommates.”

Jaemin pulls out four pairs of chopsticks and spoons, handing one to everyone at the table. Donghyuck continues to sip his water when Jeno says, “you could just live with us. You basically do anyway.” 

Renjun shakes his head. “Nope, nope. Commuting from Markham is hell but not as bad as waking up to your 6am squat jumps. You’ve got heavy feet, dude.”

The waiter appears at the table, carrying two baskets of freshly fried dumplings. Donghyuck, impatient as always, picks up one of the dumplings with his fingers and bites into it. Steam rushes out of his open mouth as he attempts to breathe through the heat.

“Is really ha,” Donghyuck mumbles, mouth still open. 

“You think?” Jeno lowers the dumpling in his chopsticks and blows it gently. 

“Anyway, my mom’s coworker knows someone who’s looking for a tenant, so I hope it works out.” Renjun sighs as he sets down his cup of water. “It’s a bit further west but it’s closer than Markham.” 

“Scarborough’s closer than Markham. Doesn’t mean it’s better,” Donghyuck says, looking at Jaemin.

Jaemin hunches over onto the table, resting the bottom of his palm onto his forehead. “I don’t wanna talk about Scarborough. Have any of you,” he turns to Donghyuck and Renjun, both seated to his left, “ever _been _to the Scarborough campus? There’s nothing there. You walk five minutes off campus and there’s nothing. There’s grass.”

“And that’s why I’m never taking a course there, thanks.” Donghyuck rubs Jaemin’s back, pretending to console him. “Sucks to be in linguistics, huh.”

“It really, really does. Don’t get me started on course selection next week.” The whole table groans at the talk of next semester looming over them. 

Two waiters walk over, hands full of dishes, and their table soon fills up with food. The center becomes littered with different _banchan _while hot stone bowls are set in front of each boy, bubbling red broth. Individual bowls piled with purple rice are set to the side. There’s barely any room left on the table by the time all the dishes are set down. 

Donghyuck grabs one of the small eggs given to them and cracks it into his soondubu, letting the residual heat cook the whites and the yolk. They snack on the banchan in front, pickled radish and bean sprouts a welcomed palate cleanser from the savoury dumplings earlier.

Renjun stirs his soondubu with his spoon, tossing around the floating dumplings in his bowl. “Jeno, when do you find out your course schedule?”

Jeno blows his spoonful of stew and pours it over his bowl of rice. “It’s not until AUGUST! What the fuck. We have to list all the courses we wanna do for the fall semester in _March _and then they don’t tell us our schedule until four months later.” He picks out a piece of beef from his bowl and puts it on his rice as well. “And _then _we don’t get to change it until a few weeks before the semester starts. It’s a stupid system.”

Jaemin reaches over the table for the jug of water and Jeno passes it to him. “You make me almost glad for our system.”

“Until you try to enrol in a class with restrictions and get stuck on a 20-person waiting list.” Donghyuck shovels kimchi into his mouth. “I hate school.”

They continue to eat until their rice bowls are empty, until the bubbles of their stew subsides and all that’s left are specks of _gochugaru _and forgotten grains of rice at the bottom of their bowls.

“Hey, Hyuck,” Jaemin bites into his last piece of pork. “How’s it going with that guy at your work?”

Donghyuck looks around the restaurant, making sure it’s clear of a certain black-haired boy. “He’s been studying here for weeks and he never. Finishes. His coffee.” He sets down his chopsticks dramatically, causing them the metal to clatter on the table. “Never! It’s like half done by the time he leaves and full of milk. It’s barely coffee.”

Just thinking about this sets off the anger inside Donghyuck. Why waste the coffee he worked so hard to make? “I don’t get it.”

Jeno scoffs as he rises from his chair. Their table is void of food and a steady line is formed at the door. “I get it completely. Didn’t you say he was looking at you the first day he stepped into the café?”

The four of them gather their belongings and get up, navigating through the tables toward the front to pay. “Yeah, and?” Donghyuck doesn’t see where this is going.

Renjun steps up to the counter. “And you told me he keeps looking at you. So.” Renjun taps his card to pay for his bill and Jeno mutters a quiet “thank you.”

Donghyuck pulls out a $20 bill from his pocket and leaves it at the counter for his share of the bill. “So you guys think he’s…” 

Jeno holds open the door for a few elderly ladies to walk into the restaurant, then steps outside. “Interested? Yeah.”

The four boys exit the restaurant and walk along the streets, heading west toward the park. Lots of people are wandering Koreatown, as busy as it can get on a warm summer night. 

They cross the road and Renjun stops at the street corner. “Sorry guys, I have to head home now. The commute home— you know how it is.” Renjun pulls out his subway pass and begins walking toward the subway.

They stand outside the station entrance, the sound of the rushing subway audible from above ground. Jeno pats Renjun’s shoulder. “One day, we’ll commute to your big ass house in Markham to hang out. I swear.”

Renjun purses his lips. “And have the three of you sleep over because you’ll get too lazy to travel back downtown? No thanks.”

Jaemin chimes in, pulling out his wallet and reaching for his subway pass. “I think I’m gonna head out too. I’ve gotta wake up early to visit my family in Ajax tomorrow.” 

They bid their fairwells as Renjun and Jaemin enter the station, chatting quietly to one another. Jeno and Donghyuck watch as they tap their cards pass the gates. As the two are descending down the stairs, Jaemin leans in to say something close to Renjun’s ear and Donghyuck wonders what they could be gossiping about.

Mid-July evenings are still warm in the city, providing heat even past the hours when the sun is long gone. Jeno and Donghyuck easily find a spot to sit at the park, on the hill overlooking the playground. Lots of young people are here past dark, sitting on picnic blankets with their friends, accompanied by pizza boxes or cones of ice cream.

They enjoy the weather, a cool breeze breaking the humidity. One of the parkgoers on the hill is playing music from their speakers, just loud enough to be carried over to Donghyuck and Jeno’s ears.

“Do you remember when we were kids,” Donghyuck says, “and we came here during winter break? We built a snowman over there.” Donghyuck points to his left, where the hill levels out into flat ground, to an area close to the biking trail. The sheltered picnic tables are occupied by a family gathering, kids running around on the grass while the adults sit and chat at the wooden tables.

“You threw a snowball in my face that day. Of course I remember it.” Jeno playfully hits Donghyuck’s arm, a little harder than he realizes.

“We should come here and do that again when it snows.” Donghyuck pauses. “With Jaemin and Renjun.” 

“Yeah,” Jeno stops, turning his head to look at the baseball field in the distance. “We should. I think Jaemin would like that.”

Donghyuck takes out a pack of mints from his pocket and chews on one. He leans over to Jeno, seemingly lost in thought, and offers him a mint, to which he gladly accepts.

Donghyuck plays with the grass between his legs, toying with a stray dandelion. “Sometimes I feel like I’m gonna be a kid forever,” he states, still looking at the ground. He doesn’t notice Jeno turn his head to look at him, the blond of his hair ruffling with the breeze. “But we’ve moved out, living together, paying rent and stuff. Are we adults now?”

Jeno fixes the bangs falling into his eyes and leans back, laying his body on the hill. “Nah, I don’t think so. Not until we have real jobs, with a fixed salary and a boss we hate.”

Donghyuck joins Jeno on the grass, stretching his legs. There are no stars in the sky above them, merely satellites breaking through the city’s smog. He thinks of work and laughs at the idea of ever hating his boss, especially if his boss is Kun. “Then maybe I’ll never be a grown up.”

He watches a plane pass by in the night, headed east over their heads. His mind feels as muggy as the city: full of life, constantly moving, a blur in itself as thoughts drift in and out. Looming over him is the thought of the upcoming semester, his second year of university. There’s Jeno, his best friend-now-roommate, and there’s Jaemin and there’s Renjun, and there’s the Milky Way, and between all these things Donghyuck thinks he might make it through the year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there isn’t much markhyuck happening in this chapter but i wanted to introduce hyuck’s friends! they’ll be around more often. here is a [supplementary map](https://twitter.com/boyfrendery/status/1182375641708220420) of the geography of the toronto area, with five of the major locations i’ve mentioned: koreatown (where donghyuck’s work is located), markham (where renjun lives), ajax (where jaemin’s family lives), and two of the university campuses. these details aren’t major to the plot but add a better idea to how far everyone really lives.
> 
> (also, none of them regularly drive and toronto’s transit system sucks, so distance really makes a difference.)
> 
> i _finally_ made a solid outline for this fic - i plan on keeping it at 8 chapters with updates at least 1-2 times a month. i've also been working daily ficlets for [#00fftober](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1504331) this month :)
> 
> thanks always for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/boyfrendery) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/boyfrendery)


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